Dispatches From the Fortress – Day 344

A lot of things I don't write about on this blog, I don't write about because I think everything I have to say about them is pretty obvious…like the passing of Rush Limbaugh. If you ever cared about Rush Limbaugh, you certainly have a firm, never-gonna-change opinion about him. And if you read this blog, you can probably guess what mine is.

But Quick True Story: Years ago — we're talking mid-eighties here — when I went to New York, I'd often stop in at an outlet of Rochester Big & Tall, a clothing store for guys like me. It was on W. 52nd or maybe W. 53rd near 6th Avenue. It later moved over to 6th, then went away completely but by then, there was one in Beverly Hills, right across from my doctor's office.

I was in that store in Manhattan one day and I'd picked out a few items for purchase. Then my salesman, obviously working on commission, started pressing me to buy a beautiful suede jacket that adorned a very dashing mannequin in the store. It's been many years since I've purchased clothing made of animal skins but I did back then.

He got me to try it on and it looked great…until I saw the price tag. Way too rich for my corpuscles. I was about to take it off forever when I heard the following exchange between my Sales Person and another customer in the shop…

OTHER CUSTOMER: Hey, that's a great looking jacket. Do you have that in my size?

SALESGUY: That may be your size, sir. But it's the last one we have in stock and I'm not sure if or when we'll get more.

OTHER CUSTOMER: Well, if he doesn't buy it, I want to try it on.

I looked and the Other Customer was, so help me, Rush Limbaugh. I turned to the salesman and said, "I'll take it."